By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M – Free Report) by 41.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 164,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115,880 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $2,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Macy’s by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 80,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth about $990,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,137,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,832,000 after buying an additional 774,693 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $582,000. Finally, West Tower Group LLC raised its stake in Macy’s by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 73,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 26,659 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $42,923.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,746,623.20. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares in the company, valued at $59,887.64. The trade was a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790 over the last ninety days. 2.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
M has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.
View Our Latest Stock Report on M
Macy’s Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:M opened at $13.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.24. Macy’s, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.48 and a 12 month high of $20.70.
Macy’s (NYSE:M – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Macy’s Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 35.44%.
Macy’s Profile
Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.
Recommended Stories
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding M? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Macy’s Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Macy’s and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.